VERDICT Oxford United 1 Carlisle United 1

14 December 2015

Reaction and highlights as the U's draw with Carlisle

Oxford United had to settle for a point on Saturday as Carlisle United hit back to draw 1-1 at the Kassam Stadium.

“Our goal was a good finish and a little bit of composure at the right time “ head Coach Michael Appleton told Yellow Player HD. “But I think that was the one real bit of composure in the whole game to be honest with you. I thought both sides huffed and puffed without any real fluidity to the game. The conditions played a big part in that but it was nice to see Macca show that little bit of composure to score the goal.

“Their goal was not what we’ve come to expect but we reacted quite well. Because it was so close to half time it gave us a chance to come in, sit down and make sure we didn’t start feeling sorry for ourselves: go out there, dress ourselves down and go at it again.

“Carlisle have seven or eight players over six foot two so they are always going to be dangerous any time there is a set piece or a throw high up the pitch. I thought they got chances from that but never felt they were going to open us up or pass their way through us and I thought we dealt with it quite well.

“Now we have a week with no midweek game and the players can be very proud of themselves. We have had three games this week and they have put a right shift in as a whole and as a group. They have all had to play different parts in different games and I think they deserve a couple of days where they can switch off a little bit.”

See the full version of the interviews below plus extended highlights in Yellow Player HD.